Good bye ITEC 7445...

As I first began ITEC 7445 (Multimedia and Web Design in Education) I was a blank canvas. I had never taken a design class before...I just used my natural born talent to make everything look amazing! Well now that end is here, my natural born talent was not so much a talent as a lucky guess. I can already see myself critiquing my own work and others when it comes to the design elements. My newfound knowledge of HTML has already come into play with my website having hiccups and I have just given it a good dose of HTML TLC to fix it! I never thought I would say this, but thank you HTML. You have been helpful. I no longer feel like a blank canvas when it comes to design...I feel like a work in progress. I can see myself using my design knowledge in helping create and implement with other teachers or on my own amazing worksheets! I do not think my canvas is complete yet, so hopefully more knowledge will be add to create a complete design package!

Webquest Update...again!

O my webquest...how you keep changing! I have it mostly done right now...well as done as a my decision making skills allow. I keep tweaking things, but that is normal for me. I really only have the video and audio left to do. I have left little "to add's" through out my unpublished Weebly so far, but there are not many left! I can see the end in sight!!!

I can say that I tackled HTML and won the battle while building my webquest on Weebly!!! I wanted to put my rubrics up as tables and Weebly was not happy with that idea. So I took my Word docs and saved it as a webpage, opened the webpage, and copy/pasted the code. It worked splendidly...by the end of the 1.5 hours I spent making the tables look exactly the way I wanted on Weebly. Lots of copy/paste, but now they are perfect. Unless I change my requirements again, and then I might throw my computer across the room. :) I feel accomplished for mastering (sort of!) something that scared me before we learned about it.

Webquest Pre-Plan - It's Electrifying!

For my webquest, I decided to focus on Electricity.  The students will be asked to design a new lab layout including the electrical designs for the electrician.  Once they have submitted their designs, they will help the electrician by evaluating his plan and offering suggestions that will fix the problems he made.

Intro

Welcome future electricians!  I am Principal Circuits and I need your help with the electrical design of our newest Physical Science lab.  As you travel through this journey in figuring out the best electrical layout for the new lab, you will be learning about electricity and electrical circuits.   Once you have made your electrical design proposals, I will still need your expertise in helping me supervise my electrician and make sure he does the best job possible.

Task

-Stage 1: Students will research the basics of electricity including vocabulary words, how electricity works, and types of electrical circuits.

Provided websites, videos, and online labs will be used to build the students’ knowledge on electricity as well as the students creating vocabulary flashcards using quizlet.com.

-Stage 2: Students will implement their knowledge of electricity by submitting electrical diagrams for the Physical Science lab-remodeling project. 

Video will be used to show students how to create electrical diagrams and what the appropriate symbols are for their diagrams.  They will upload their diagrams to VoiceThread where they will explain why they chose the design they did.

-Stage 3: Students will evaluate the work the of the electrician hired to do the Physical Science lab remodel (now that the best model was chosen), where they must critique his work and offer suggestions to help the electrician do the job to the best of his ability.

Students will have to explain to the principal what corrections the hired electrician needs to do and why. They will also give a new plan to help him out.  Students can write a formal letter or create a podcast/audio file presentation.  There will be help videos for either option showing the students how to successfully accomplish the task.

I am still working on all the pieces, trying to flush it out and make it usable.  I am thinking of using this after the students have learned about electricity, but before they have learned about circuits.  I am not sure though :)  Everyday I think on this project, I come up with something new.  My project keeps evolving!!!

HTML Code...fun fun fun!

I was extremely hesitant to learn code.  It has never interested me or ever really been a tiny thought bubble in my head.  However, I was told that I was going to be learning code, so I did.  And I actually enjoyed the process of learning it! It was exciting to type a few keys and see my work appear on a blank webpage.  Yes, I only learned the very basic code possible and I Googled the rest to make my page pink, but I still tried my hardest and I am giving myself a pat on the back!


I am not really sure how I am going to use my new found knowledge of code in my classroom though.  The only thing I can think of is when my class blog acts up, I can attempt to solve the problem.  I do not think I am going to be building any websites from scratch any time soon...or ever!  I shall always use websites that come with templates, so all the hard work is already done for me.  All I will have to do is pick some cute background and color scheme and add my content.  I will most likely use Google Sites for my portfolio, but will be keeping my eyes open for another resource that I have not used before so I can go on another adventure!

Design and Development "STUFF"

I do believe that all this design "stuff" will help me as an educator and technology leader. The "stuff" can help to create effective, easy to read worksheets or classroom websites where any student of any age can navigate and find the necessary information. There are so many teachers out there who have great ideas but they struggle with how to present the information in an easy to read/understand/digest way. With our journey through the ins and outs of design and development, our new knowledge can help those who struggle and want/need help breaking into the world of technlogy, where aesthically pleasing and easy to read are the keys to successfully distributing information.
I am still curious on how to share my knowledge when it comes to helping others with design. I know based on some conversations I have had with some of my co workers that they are too worried about design. Design is the fluff that most of them do not have time for. They are more worried about getting the content out there, even though design can help with that. I think the way to help others with design and development is to keep have these dialogues. Talking is the best way for others to learn new information because it gives them time to digest what you said, how they feel about it, and they will come back to discuss it further with you. I am excited to start learning about design and development so I can start changing my ways and hopefully others will start being open to it as well!